Woven Planet Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation, has agreed to acquire Level 5, the self-driving division of Lyft, Inc., a ride-hailing company. This marks the first major deal for the newly established Woven Planet, according to a statement made by the company.
“The deal will bring together world-class scientists and software engineers from Level 5, Woven Planet, and researchers from Toyota Research Institute, Inc. (“TRI”) already working together with Woven Planet. The resulting combined “dream team” of approximately 1,200 will represent one of the most diverse, well-resourced and talented groups in this field,” the statement added.
In addition to the acquisition of Level 5, Woven Planet and Lyft have signed commercial agreements for utilization of the Lyft system and fleet data to accelerate the safety and commercialization of the automated-driving technology that Woven Planet will develop.
Lyft will receive approximately $550 million in cash, with $200 million paid upfront subject to certain closing adjustments and $350 million of payments over a five-year period.
